Political life is increasingly sectarian, unhinged from the reality and magnitude of policy disagreements.“Foundation of the American Government,” by John Henry Hintermeister…

The word lox was one of the clues that eventually led linguists to discover who the Proto-Indo-Europeans were, and where they lived.Photograph by Helen Cook / FlickrOne of my favorite…

Sparingly these days do I find myself thinking I’ve got some time to kill. Time has a way of making itself scarce. I’m like some Pleistocene hunter-gatherer, always scavenging…

That Trump’s ship is sinking is now a widespread public perception.Photograph by Gage Skidmore / FlickrDuring the pandemic, I’ve been participating in weekly Zoom calls with…

The emotional connection between hunter and hunted raises important questions about what happens when an animal species disappears—what is the human response to such ill-fate?Wellcome…

There’s something about stories. We cherish them. Teach them. Pass them down to the next generation. Stories create a sacred space that humans have always respected. And science…

The argument that we have the power to deal with the dangers of social media on our own can come across as cruelly individualistic tech-apologia.Photo Illustration by Victor Moussa…

Handwashing, mask-wearing and physical distancing are the easy part. The true challenge is to face the pain and suffering that exists all around us and know that doing so will not…

Researchers predicted that people would consistently underrate how much they might benefit from talking on the phone.Photograph by Stokkete / ShutterstockI’m one of the lucky ones.…

Above our heads, the lights are going out. Instead of thousands of stars in the heavens, artificial light pollution means that in today’s cities we see only a few dozen. A recent…